1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to crystalline apatites finding application in broad-ranging fields as functional materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advances in the development of apatite-based materials as phosphors and biofunctional materials have been made in recent years. A known example of apatite-based crystals of this sort is apatite monocrystals in the form of solid hexagonal prisms (Non-Patent Document 1). Also, a method of using needlelike hydroxyapatite whiskers to isolate proteins has been proposed (reference is made to Patent Document 1).    Patent Document 1 JP9-169794    Non-Patent Document 1 Katsuya Teshima et al., “Direct growth of highly crystalline, idiomorphic fluorapatite crystals on a polymer substrate,” Crystal Growth & Design, 2009, Vol. 9, No. 9, pp. 3832-3834
In finding application in a variety of uses, apatite-based materials have room for improvement in terms of their form and constituents suited to those uses.